Terms & Conditions

Welcome to NewsMediaAlliance.org and the mobile applications and other platforms operated by the News Media Alliance (“the Alliance,” “we,” or “us”), a nonprofit organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. These Terms of Service (“Terms” or “Agreement”) govern your use of this website as well as any websites or mobile applications operated by the Alliance, and your access of any of the information contained therein (the “Services”).

1. Binding Agreement

The Terms are a binding legal contract between you and the Alliance. Please read the Terms carefully before using the Services. By using the Services, you accept and agree to be bound by the Terms, including any future modifications, and to abide by all applicable laws, rules and regulations (“Applicable Law”). Do not use the Services if you do not accept the Terms.

We may modify the Terms at any time. We will post any modified Terms of Use and update the effective date to reflect the date of the changes. Your use of the Services after we post modifications to the Terms means that you accept the modified Terms. It is therefore important that you review the Terms regularly. If you do not agree to be bound by the Terms and to abide by all Applicable Law, you must discontinue use of the Services immediately.

2. Privacy

Use of the Alliance Services is also governed by our Privacy Policy. By using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read the Privacy Policy.

3. Registration and Security

You may register for certain interactive and membership activities provided through the Services. For example, all registered users will be eligible to create profiles. Non-members who register will have limited, read-only access to certain password protected areas. Members who register will be able to interact with other users and access additional password protected areas containing premium content that is not available to non-members. When you register or provide any other information in connection with the Services, you agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information and to promptly update this information to maintain its accuracy.

All users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any password and username that is given or selected, and are responsible for all activities that occur under that password or account. It is therefore critical that you do not share your password with anyone, or otherwise make it available to anyone. You agree not to use the account, username, email address or password of another Alliance member at any time and not to allow any other person to use your account. You agree to notify the Alliance immediately if you suspect any unauthorized use of, or access to, your account or password.

In no event shall you publish, retransmit, redistribute, hyperlink to, or otherwise reproduce in any format to anyone the information contained in password-protected areas of the Alliance website.

4. User Submissions

You understand that you are responsible for all content that you post, upload, transmit, email or otherwise make available on, through or in connection with the Services (collectively, “User Content”). It is critical that you choose User Content carefully. You agree not use the Services to take any action that could harm us or anyone else, interfere with the Services, or use the Services in a manner that violates any law. For example, you agree not to:

Impersonate any person or misrepresent your credentials or any information you provide;

Delete or revise any information provided by or pertaining to any other user;

Post, upload or otherwise transmit an image or video of another person without that person’s consent, or otherwise use another’s information, account, or password, except as expressly permitted;

Exploit or endanger a minor;

Upload or transmit content that infringes patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary rights of any party or that you do not have a right to transmit under law or contractual or fiduciary relationships and agreements;

Engage in commercial activities (including but not limited to advertisements or solicitations of business; sales; contests; sweepstakes; creating, recreating, distributing or advertising an index of any significant portion of the content provided through the Services; or building a business using the content provided through the Services) without prior written approval, including without limitation the display of commercial banners;

Cover, remove, disable, block or obscure advertisements or other portions of the Services;

Use technology or any automated system such as scripts, spiders, offline readers or bots in order to collect or disseminate usernames, passwords, email addresses or other data from the Services, or to circumvent or modify any security technology or software that is part of the Services;

Interfere with, disrupt, or make excessive or harmful automated use of the Alliance website, servers or networks, or otherwise take any action that imposes an unreasonable load on our network or infrastructure;

Use any device, software, or program to interfere with the Services or attempt to probe, scan, test the vulnerability of, or breach the security of any system, device, or network;

Circumvent, reverse engineer, decipher, decompile, disassemble, decrypt, or otherwise interfere with any software that is a part of the Services, or use any tools for compromising security (e.g., password-guessing programs, cracking tools, or network probing tools);

Engage in any other conduct that restricts any person from using the Services, or that, in our sole judgment, exposes us, users, or any other third party to any liability, damages, or detriment of any type;

Use the Services in a manner inconsistent with any and all Applicable Law; or

Attempt, facilitate, induce, aid and abet, or encourage others to do any of the foregoing.

The Alliance reserves the following rights, but disclaims any obligations or responsibilities, to take the following actions that relate to user activity:

Removing User Activity: The Alliance reserves the right to remove User Content that violates this Agreement, as determined by the Alliance in its sole discretion and without notice to you. You acknowledge the Alliance reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in the Alliance’s sole discretion, violates these Terms, including but not limited to, terminating their user account and/or reporting such User Content, conduct, or activity to law enforcement authorities.

Accessing, Using, and Disclosing User Activity: The Alliance reserves the right to access, preserve or disclose information you provide through its services, including User Content and your account registration information, including when the Alliance has a good faith belief that such access, preservation or disclosure is necessary in order to: (1) protect, enforce, or defend the legal rights, privacy, safety, or property of the Alliance, our parents, subsidiaries or affiliates, or their employees, agents and contractors (including enforcement of this Agreement or our other agreements); (2) protect the safety, privacy, and security of users of the Services or members of the public including in urgent circumstances; (3) protect against fraud or for risk management purposes; (4) comply with the law or legal process; or (5) respond to requests from public and government authorities. If the Alliance sells all or part of its business or makes a sale or transfer of its assets or is otherwise involved in a merger or transfer of all or a material part of its business, the Alliance may transfer your information to the party or parties involved in the transaction as part of that transaction.

Third Party Disclosure: We also have the right to disclose your identity to any third party who is claiming that any User Content you provide us or others in connection with the Services constitutes a violation of the third party’s intellectual property rights, of the third party’s right to privacy, or of any other applicable local, state, national, or international law.

Storage Capacity: The Alliance reserves the right to limit the storage capacity of User Content. You assume full responsibility for maintaining backup copies of your User Content, and the Alliance assumes no responsibility for any loss of your User Content due to its being removed by the Alliance or for any other reason.

5. Your Content

By posting or transmitting any User Content on, through or in connection with the Services, you hereby grant to the Alliance and our affiliates, licensees, assignees, and authorized users a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free, freely sublicensable, transferable (in whole or in part) right (including any moral rights) and license to use, modify, excerpt, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works and compilations based upon, publicly perform, publicly display, reproduce, sublicense, and distribute such User Content, including your name, voice, likeness and other personally identifiable information to the extent that such is contained in User Content, anywhere, in any form and on and through all media formats now known or hereafter devised, for any and all purposes including, but not limited to, promotional, marketing, trade or any non-commercial or commercial purposes. Additionally, the Alliance is free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques contained within such User Content for any purpose including, but not limited to, developing, manufacturing, marketing and providing commercial products and services, including Services.

The Alliance’s use of such User Content shall not require any further notice or attribution to you and such use shall be without the requirement of any permission from or any payment to you or any other person or entity. You hereby appoint the Alliance as your agent with full authority to execute any document or take any action the Alliance may consider appropriate in order to confirm the rights granted by you to the Alliance in this Agreement. You represent that you have obtained all necessary permissions from any person or entity identified in or implicated by your submission (including those shown in photographic or video content), and, in the case of minors, also from their parents or legal guardians, as appropriate.

6. Intellectual Property

All content, code, software, and any other materials that are part of the Services other than any content you may submit (collectively, the “Alliance Content”) is the property of the Alliance. If you comply with these Terms, you may use the Services and print or otherwise retain copies of the Alliance Content only without modification and for noncommercial, informational, and personal use.

Copyright and Other Intellectual Property Rights. The Alliance Content is protected under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. You acknowledge that all copyrights and other intellectual property rights related to the Services are owned by the Alliance or its third-party licensors to the full extent permitted under the United States Copyright Act, international copyright laws, and all other applicable laws. Unless expressly permitted by an authorized person in writing or as permitted by applicable law, you may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, enter into a database, display, perform, modify, create derivative works from, transmit, or in any way use or exploit any part of the Alliance Content. No association with any company, organization, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, place, or event is intended or should be inferred unless otherwise expressly stated.

Trade and Service Marks. You acknowledge and agree that all the Alliance logos and marks as well as other proprietary materials depicted in connection with the Services and the Alliance Content are the property of the Alliance and may not be used commercially without the prior written consent of the Alliance.

Infringement. The Alliance respects the intellectual property of others and requires that our users do the same. Except as expressly authorized by the Alliance, you agree not to modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute, or create derivative works based on the Alliance website, in whole or in part. You may not reformat or display the Alliance website, or mirror or frame the Alliance website on your website. The Alliance has a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of subscribers and account holders of Services who are repeat infringers. The Alliance also reserves the right to remove or disable access to any transmission of Content that infringes the copyright of any person under the laws of the United States upon receipt of a notice that substantially complies with the requirements of 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) as set forth below.

Notice of Infringement. If you believe in good faith that content you own has been reproduced on the Services in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide our designated agent with the following information in writing:

Identification of the copyrighted work or a representative list of the works claimed to have been infringed;

Identification of the allegedly infringing material and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;

Your name, address, telephone number, and email address, so that we may contact you if necessary;

A statement that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;

A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf; and

A physical or electronic signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

This contact information is intended solely for receipt of legal “Notifications of Claimed Infringement” under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, as codified in 17 U.S.C. 512. General inquiries or communications should be directed to individuals listed on the Alliance’s Contact Us page.

Embedding Content. The Services may allow you to embed the Alliance Content into other web pages. All use of embedded Alliance Content must be for non-commercial purposes only, and may be disabled by the Alliance at any time and for any reason.

If you posted material that the Alliance removed due to a notice of claimed infringement from a copyright owner, the Alliance will take reasonable steps promptly to notify you that the material has been removed or disabled. This notice may be by means of a general notice on the Alliance site or by written or electronic communication to such address(es) you have provided to the Alliance, if any.

You may provide counter-notification in response to such notice in a written communication that includes substantially all of the following: (1) identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access to it was disabled; (2) a statement by you, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled; (3) your name, address, telephone number, and a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located, or if your address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which the Alliance may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification requesting the removal or disabling of access to the material or such person’s agent; and (4) your physical or electronic signature.

Please note that, under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), any person who knowingly makes material misrepresentations in a notification of claimed infringement or any counter-notification may be liable for damages.

7. Fees

You acknowledge that the Alliance reserves the right to charge subscription fees for any portion of the Services. We will provide you with advance notice of any such fees, including any change in the amount of such fees, and a way to cancel your membership in the event you do not wish to pay the modified fee. If you continue to use the Services after a subscription fee has been imposed or increased, you are expressly agreeing to the subscription fee or increase thereto and you will be responsible for paying such subscription fee for the balance of your subscription. If the Alliance suspends or terminates your account and/or access to the Services because you have breached the Terms or violated Applicable Law, you will not be entitled to a refund of any unused portion of such fees or other payments.

8. Links and Third Party Content

The Services may provide, or third parties may provide, links to other websites, applications, resources or other services created by third parties (“Third Party Services”). When you engage with a provider of a Third Party Service, you are interacting with the third party, not with the Alliance. If you choose to use a Third Party Service and share information with it, the provider of the Third Party Service may use and share your data in accordance with its privacy policy and your privacy settings on such Third Party Service. The Alliance encourages you not to provide any personally identifiable information to or through any Third Party Service unless you know and are comfortable with the party with whom you are interacting.

In addition, the provider of the Third Party Service may use other parties to provide portions of the application or service to you, such as technology, development or payment services. The Alliance is not responsible for and makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the Third Party Services or the providers of such Third Party Services (including, but not limited to, the accuracy or completeness of the information provided by such Third Party Service or the privacy practices thereof). Inclusion of any Third Party Service or a link thereto on the Services does not imply approval or endorsement of the Third Party Service. The Alliance is not responsible for the content or practices of any websites other than the Alliance website, even if the website links to the Alliance website and even if it is operated by an affiliate or a company otherwise connected with the Alliance. By using the Services, you acknowledge and agree that the Alliance is not responsible or liable to you for any content or other materials hosted and served from any website other than the Alliance. When you access Third Party Services, you do so at your own risk.

9. Termination

In our sole discretion, we may restrict, suspend, or terminate your access to and use of the Services, with or without prior notice. The Alliance is not responsible for any error in copy or images relating to the Services or any other products offered via the Services.

Otherwise applicable sections of these Terms shall survive termination. The Alliance also reserves the right to seek all remedies available at law and in equity for violations of these Terms. Upon termination, you must cease all use of the Services, including any of the Alliance Content.

10. Applicable Law and Disputes

The Agreement will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

You and the Alliance agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in Virginia to resolve any Dispute arising out of the Agreement or the Company Services. YOU HEREBY KNOWINGLY, VOLUNTARILY AND INTENTIONALLY WAIVE ANY RIGHT YOU MAY HAVE TO A TRIAL BY JURY IN RESPECT OF ANY LITIGATION (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY CLAIMS, COUNTERCLAIMS, CROSS-CLAIMS, OR THIRD PARTY CLAIMS) ARISING OUT OF, UNDER OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT.

11. Disclaimer of Warranties

YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES ABOUT THE SERVICES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE OPERATION OF THE SERVICES OR THE INFORMATION, MATERIALS, GOODS, OR SERVICES APPEARING OR OFFERED ON THE SERVICES OR WITH RESPECT TO ANY WEBSITES OR SERVICES LINKED FROM THE SERVICES. THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS,” “WITH ALL FAULTS,” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS, EXPRESS, STATUTORY, OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO (1) THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WORKMANLIKE EFFORT, TITLE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, NO LIENS, AND NO ENCUMBRANCES; (2) THE WARRANTIES AGAINST INFRINGEMENT, MISAPPROPRIATION, OR VIOLATION OF ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OR PROPRIETARY RIGHTS OF ANY PERSON; (3) WARRANTIES ARISING THROUGH COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE IN TRADE; AND (4) THE WARRANTIES RELATING TO THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, CORRECTNESS, OR COMPLETENESS OF DATA OR CONTENT MADE AVAILABLE ON THE SERVICES OR OTHERWISE BY THE ALLIANCE.

FURTHER, THERE IS NO WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS OR THE NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS OF ANY OTHER PERSON OR THE NEEDS OR REQUIREMENTS SET FORTH IN ANY DOCUMENTATION. WE MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, STATUTORY, OR IMPLIED, THAT THE SERVICES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE CONTENT, FUNCTIONS, OR MATERIALS CONTAINED IN THE SERVICES, WILL BE TIMELY, SECURE, ACCURATE, ERROR-FREE, COMPLETE, UP-TO-DATE, FREE OF VIRUSES, OR UNINTERRUPTED. THE ALLIANCE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS, AND LIABILITIES IN CONNECTION WITH ANY USER CONTENT OR ALLIANCE CONTENT. NO INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE ALLIANCE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY.

IF APPLICABLE LAW DOES NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE IMPLIED OR STATUTORY WARRANTIES TO APPLY TO YOU, THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS WILL APPLY TO YOU TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

12. Exclusive Remedy and Limitation on Liability

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION NEGLIGENCE, WILL THE ALLIANCE, ITS AFFILIATES, OR ANY PARTY INVOLVED IN OPERATING, CREATING, PRODUCING, OR DELIVERING THE SERVICES BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OR LOSSES INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OR LOST PROFITS ARISING OUT OF THE TERMS OR YOUR ACCESS, USE, MISUSE, OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY ALLIANCE CONTENT OR USER CONTENT, OR ANY SITES LINKED FROM THE SERVICES, HOWEVER CAUSED, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, EVEN THE ALLIANCE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR IN CONNECTION WITH ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, ERROR, OMISSION, INTERRUPTION, DEFECT, DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, COMPUTER VIRUS, LINE OR SYSTEM FAILURE, OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR DEVICE, DATA, OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF OUR SERVICES OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY CONTENT ON IT OR ON ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO IT.

BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, THE ALLIANCE’S LIABILITY IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS FOR SUCH DAMAGES SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. ANY CLAIM AGAINST US SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT YOU PAID, IF ANY, FOR USE OF THE SERVICES.

13. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, hold harmless, and defend the Alliance, its affiliates and licensors, any party involved in operating, creating, producing, or delivering the Services, and each of their respective officers, owners, directors, shareholders, contractors, agents, employees, general and limited partners, successors, and assigns from and against any and all demands, claims, damages, liabilities, judgments, fines, interest, penalties, losses, costs, expenses, and harms, including without limitation reasonable attorneys’ fees and fees of other professional advisers, arising out of or in connection with (1) your use of the Services, (2) your online conduct in connection with the Services, (3) your violation or breach of these Terms, (4) your failure to comply with any applicable laws or regulations in connection with the Services, (5) your negligence, willful misconduct, or violations of the intellectual property or other rights of any person in connection with the Services, or (6) any of your dealings or transactions with other persons resulting from use of the Services. You shall not settle any such claim without the prior written consent of the Alliance. These obligations will survive any termination of these Terms.

14. Integration, Severability and Waiver

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between the Alliance and you. In the event any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, it will not affect the enforceability of the remaining provisions and will be replaced by an enforceable provision that comes closest to the intention underlying the unenforceable provision. Our failure to enforce any provisions of the Terms or respond to a breach by you or other parties shall not in any way waive our right to enforce subsequently any terms or conditions of the Terms or to act with respect to similar breaches.

15. Notice to California Consumers

Under California Civil Code Section 1789.3, California users of the Services are entitled to the following specific consumer rights notice: The Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs may be contacted in writing at 1625 North Market Blvd., Suite N 112, Sacramento CA 95834, or by telephone at (916) 445-1254 or (800) 952-5210.

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